November 19, 2023
| Welcome to week four hundred and twenty-seven of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include: 1. Doris Burke Begins Historic NBA Broadcast Role (Front Office Sports) 2. Olympic Sprinter Gabby Thomas Is a Triple Threat: Brilliant, Beautiful and Wicked Fast (Footwear News) 3. Oakland soccer club raises most successful crowdfunding round in U.S. sports history (San Francisco Business Times) 4. “Africa is the Future”: How Bismack Biyombo is using basketball to change the outlook of a continent (NBC Sports) 5. Forward Laila Edwards makes history with Team USA women’s hockey (Andscape) 6. New Caledonia – the Pacific paradise that became a World Cup talent factory (The Athletic) 7. As this volleyball star learns English, her confidence on court has soared (Washington Post) 8. This marketing exec built her career around proving the value of women’s sports (Marketing Brew) 9. NFL Fans Loved Why Antonio Pierce Had Raiders Practice Squad Players on Sideline During Game (SI) 10. He’s a college basketball player — and a law student on a mission (Washington Post) 10+ The Laureus Sport for Good Index – Championing the brands making a positive impact through sport (Laureus) https://sportforgoodindex.sportspromedia.com/ Share Your Secret Sauce (Stanford Social Innovation Review) https://ssir.org/articles/entry/share_your_secret_sauce# Stories of Sports’ Power to Unite, Uplift Shared at Vatican-inspired Conference Hosted byMarquette (Marquette University)https://www.marquette.edu/news-center/2023/stories-sports-power-to-unite-uplift-shared-at-vatican-inspired-conference.php 5 lessons young athletes can still learn from the legendary John Wooden (USA Today Sports) https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2023/11/12/john-wooden-lessons-young-athletes/71537207007/ Children and youth leading their change through sports and their engagement in participatory methods (Sport and Dev) https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/children-and-youth-leading-their-change-through-sports-and-their-engagement We present again our “Featured Video” offering(s). With the explosion of video content out there highlighting the good in sport, we want to showcase such content for your enjoyment and learning. This will be an ongoing effort. And now we add podcasts! Sport for good in action: The creative campaigns that got these 30 brands recognized for their social impact work (SportsPro Media) https://www.sportspromedia.com/insights/features/sport-for-good-campaigns-initiatives-athleta-lego-tiktok-patagonia-visa-dxc-on/ Shane Battier w/ Knuckleheads (The Players’ Tribune) https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/shane-battier-nba-basketball-podcast-knuckleheads Billie Jean King on 50 Years of Progress (Front Office Sports) https://open.spotify.com/episode/6PWD45vhofhAP708Bz0vbQ |
| www.loveequals.net Introduction: I start off with some new research from our friends at The Aspen Institute, which as their director Tom Farrey stated, “will serve as a foundation for conversations we have about building a better (youth sports) system for the U.S. In each of the 12 countries we analyzed, we identified one “What We Like” item in a box. You can find them here: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/worldsportsystemsfull.pdf Thanks to Tom and his team for their ongoing impactful work. Finally, before jumping into this week’s newsletter, I also wanted to highlight a new book from Gotham Chopra and Joe Levin, “Religion of Sports: Navigating the Trials of Life Through the Games We Love.” https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Religion-of-Sports/Gotham-Chopra/9781501198090 I am looking forward to giving it a read in the New Year. Another week, another great issue of Sports Doing Good (in my humble opinion!) I chose this week to focus on a group of athletes who, while occasionally mentioned, hardly ever are the focus of attention in sports, and those are practice players. I am specifically talking about NFL practice players. A story this week brought this group into the limelight, for a few minutes, as new Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce (a former outstanding player himself), invited the practice squad players to stand on the sideline during the game. The number of references to this gesture clearly indicated that this is not regular practice. Turns out that practice players are not normally on the sideline, per NFL rules regarding the number of people allowed on the sideline; or just due to the team’s decision. Pierce’s gesture stood out for its simpleness, i.e., invite players who practice hard all week against the guys who suit up, work out, attend meetings and are in most ways, a member of the team. The practice squad players are often the “next man up” when a player gets hurt or cannot play for whatever reason. In the bigger picture, Pierce’s acts are reminiscent of those in which “forgotten” or overlooked individuals get some of their deserved attention and accolades. For example, when employees of a championship team are flown to the Super Bowl or treated to a special event in light of team success. That’s right, team success. The team includes players, coaches, staff, and in many cases, fans. In the history of the newsletter, I have by my nature included stories about those who may not be the most high-profile person on the team or the most important person in a company or organization. However, their efforts to support their colleagues and the greater good are both inspiring and motivating. We can all help in most situations and should take comfort in all small and large efforts that get us closer to our respective goals. Shout out to Coach Pierce for recognizing such efforts. Please continue to send along your stories. You’re both our audience and best source of stories. Our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood, and you can find us at www.facebook.com/sportsdoinggood and on Instagram. Finally, if you think others would like to receive the newsletter, please feel free to forward it on or have them contact us directly at sab@sportsdoinggood.com. (If you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore you can use the Unsubscribe button at the end of the email) So enjoy. And have a good week. |
| Top Stories of the Week Doris Burke Begins Historic NBA Broadcast Role (Front Office Sports) For full story, please click here. Olympic Sprinter Gabby Thomas Is a Triple Threat: Brilliant, Beautiful and Wicked Fast (Footwear News) For full story, please click here. Oakland soccer club raises most successful crowdfunding round in U.S. sports history (San Francisco Business Times) For full story, please click here. “Africa is the Future”: How Bismack Biyombo is using basketball to change the outlook of a continent (NBC Sports) For full story, please click here. Forward Laila Edwards makes history with Team USA women’s hockey (Andscape) For full story, please click here. New Caledonia – the Pacific paradise that became a World Cup talent factory (The Athletic) For full story, please click here. As this volleyball star learns English, her confidence on court has soared (Washington Post) For full story, please click here. This marketing exec built her career around proving the value of women’s sports (Marketing Brew) For full story, please click here. NFL Fans Loved Why Antonio Pierce Had Raiders Practice Squad Players on Sideline During Game (SI) For full story, please click here. He’s a college basketball player — and a law student on a mission (Washington Post) For full story, please click here.? www.loveequals.net |
| More About Us: Our mission is to have Sport Doing Good be a consistent, and significant, contributor to the areas of sports, social responsibility and development. We look forward to partnering with other stakeholders in producing content, in creating and/or sponsoring athletic and service events, knowledge sharing, and conferences/seminars, and even having a commercial arm that could be the source of innovative social businesses. We invite you to send in news, press releases, and guest pieces for possible publication, and email us with suggestions about the content and format of the newsletter and Sports Doing Good website. |
| Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sarbjit “Sab” Singh sab@sportsdoinggood.com 516-287-7141 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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